Addition proposed for Lincolnshire's Wright Junior High School
Lincolnshire's Wright Junior High School would get more classrooms, safety improvements and other upgrades as part of a proposed $8 million expansion and renovation.
The crux of the plan is a one-story, 1,800-square-foot addition near the front of the existing building at 1370 Riverwoods Road. It would contain two classrooms.
The school's front entrance would relocate and get security upgrades as part of the project, too.
Additionally, existing areas of the building would be converted to different uses. For example, the Lincolnshire-Prairie View School District 103 offices now in the school would move to a leased, off-site location to free up space, Superintendent Scott Warren said.
Likewise, the school library will be renovated to create spaces for individual work, small group work and breakouts with teachers, architect Matt Bickel of Wold Architects & Engineers told the village board during a recent public meeting.
"(There will be) more opportunities for the different types of learning and activities that are going in today's learning resource centers," Bickel said.
Part of the library will be turned into a lab for science, technology engineering and math education, Bickel said.
Officials want to expand the school to accommodate rising enrollment. Wright currently serves 685 students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Enrollment is projected to increase to more than 750 students by the 2023-24 school year, Bickel said.
If plans progress, the addition will be the 108,767-square-foot school's fifth since it was built in 1972. Prior expansions were completed in 1987, 1996, 2000 and 2011.
Funding would come from district savings, Warren said.
Construction is scheduled to start in late February or early March, Warren said. Work should conclude in August ahead of the 2020-21 school year.
Various elements of the plan need approval from Lincolnshire's village board. Public hearings and debates are planned for this month, and trustees are expected to vote on the plan Dec. 9.
The District 103 board is expected to seek construction bids in January and approve contracts in February.
Both of District 103's other schools - Sprague School and Half Day School - underwent classroom additions during the 2016-17 term. No additional renovations or expansions are planned at Sprague or Half Day, Warren said.